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Chapter Three

Rosalie

I spentmost of Sunday morning trying on different outfits and discovering I hated my clothes. I needed something perfect for when I saw Shane. I didn’t care how ridiculous it was, all I could think about was spending some time with Shane Ventana outside of school.

After trying on everything in my closet twice, I finally settled on a pair of jeans that made my ass look good and a blue sweater. I thought about the other girls at school who looked so put together no matter what they wore. I was sometimes jealous of them, and thinking about how Shane had dated most of them, now was one of those times. I was nothing like them.

As I ran a comb through my hair one last time, my phone rang. It was Noelle. I stared at her name on the display for a moment, debating whether I should answer or not, before tapping to take the call.

“Hey, Noelle,” I said.

“Hey, I haven’t heard from you all weekend. Do you want to come over?”

Dammit! This was why I shouldn’t have answered.

“I can’t, my dad should be here any minute. He and Joanna are going to buy a house and they want us to see it.”

“Us?” she asked.

Crap! I cannot keep a secret!

“Umm yeah, us. Joanna kind of has a son.”

“How does someone kind of have a son?”

“She and this guy my dad knew were all but married for years. He has a son from before and my dad said she feels bad for him. He had a tough life with his dad. You know Joanna is a social worker, she likes helping people.”

I left it at that. I wasn’t ready to tell her everything.

“No way! You had juicy gossip like this and you didn’t share?”

“Well, it’s really not a big deal.”

“Okay, Rosalie. Except I know you and when you say that, that means that it is. So spill.”

“Fine, jeez, you can be such a bitch sometimes,” I joked. “My dad and Joanna got married and now they’re buying a house together. That’s it.”

“Hmm, you’re leaving something out,” she said. “Tell me about Joanna’s sort-of son. Your dad and Joanna have been together for a while now, so he’s not a baby. Is he hot? Is that why you’ve been quiet?”

Fuck! How do I get out of this? I can’t lie to her.

As my mind whirled, my dad’s silver Toyota pulled up in front of the house. While I couldn’t lie to Noelle, I could easily delay telling her the truth.

“I’ll call you later,” I said. “Dad just got here.”

“Don’t hang up,” she said. “You gotta tell me!”

I ended the call and slipped the phone into my pocket as I ran down the stairs. Glancing towards the living room, I was glad to not find anyone there. My mother knew I was going out with Dad and that was all that mattered to me. I didn’t want to deal with Jim.

As I opened the car door, I realized only two people were in the car, my dad and Joanna. My heart sank a little as I slid into the back seat.

“That sweater looks very pretty on you,” Joanna said as I buckled my seatbelt.

“Thanks. So where’s the house?”

“It’s just up here,” Dad said as he turned the corner.

“Seriously?”

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